A.3 Health Language Flashcards
Interpret the meaning of health icons, terms, abbreviations, initialisms, and acronyms.
What percentage of Australians speak a language other than English at home?
21 per cent
According to the 2016 Census
What are some factors that can lead to miscommunication in healthcare?
Variations in:
* Health service providers
* Training between institutions
* Health literacy
* Use of language
* Medical terms
* Clinical knowledge evolution
* Changes in healthcare context
* Generational language changes
* Use of abbreviations and acronyms
What can miscommunication in healthcare lead to?
Errors, misdiagnosis, inappropriate treatment, poor care outcomes
Identified as major contributing factors in sentinel events
What are documentary shortcuts in healthcare?
Abbreviations, initialisms, icons, and acronyms
These are often associated with miscommunication
What percentage of words in the studied discharge summaries were documentary shortcuts?
Around 9%
Over 1,800 different abbreviations were identified
What was the ambiguity rate of documentary shortcuts in the study?
Nearly one-third were ambiguous
What did the study from Israel find about physicians’ knowledge of abbreviations?
Only 1.2% knew at least 50% of the 18 tested abbreviations
What do 90% of surveyed physicians believe about knowing abbreviations?
It would improve the quality of care they provide
What is the stance of the Australian Commission on Safety and Quality in Health Care regarding abbreviations?
One of the major causes of medication errors is the use of potentially dangerous abbreviations
What do the National Safety and Quality Health Service Standards recommend about abbreviations?
Avoid acronyms and abbreviations if there is potential for ambiguity
What does the Joint Commission International prohibit regarding abbreviations?
Use of abbreviations in informed consent forms, patient rights documents, and discharge instructions
What authoritative guidance exists on clinical terms in Australia?
Provided by:
* Australian Commission on Safety and Quality in Health Care
* Royal College of Pathologists of Australasia
* Health Information Management Association of Australia
What are some good practices regarding documentary shortcuts?
- Ensure approved and non-approved shortcuts are communicated
- Monitor abbreviation use
- Use technologies to convert shortcuts into long forms
- Orient new clinical staff about shortcuts
Fill in the blank: Miscommunication errors arising from shortcuts may have significant _______.
downstream consequences
True or False: Clinical documents have short lifespans.
False
They have long lifespans, risking perpetuation of abbreviations
